IX.1 Introduction

This chapter describes the Geosupport Batch Address Translator (GBAT), the Geosupport System’s batch utility program. Users can often satisfy their requirements for batch Geosupport processing without having to write custom programs by processing their files through GBAT.

GBAT can process any user file that meets certain easily satisfied requirements (described in Chapter IX.4). It can be used to execute any of the Geosupport functions that are available in the batch environment. It can be used to normalize house numbers and street names, to obtain street codes, to validate geographic locations such as addresses and intersections, and to obtain geographic information about such locations such as cross streets, community district, ZIP code, tax block and tax lot, spatial coordinates or any of the other information that Geosupport provides.

To run GBAT, the user must set up a batch job, and must create a small ‘control file’ that controls the GBAT execution. Chapter IX.2 discusses JCL considerations for setting up the batch job. Chapter IX.3 outlines the processing that GBAT performs and discusses programmed abnormal terminations. The remaining sections of this chapter discuss each of GBAT’s input and output files.

Appendices 9, 10, and 12 also pertain to GBAT. Appendices 9 and 12 contain several GBAT tables that are indispensable references for setting up the control file (Tables A9-1, A9-2 and A9-3), interpreting the MSW GBAT output data (Table A9-4), interpreting the COW GBAT output data (Table A12-2), and setting up the JCL (Table A9-5 for MSW format, Table A12-3 for COW format). Appendix 10 contains annotated sample GBAT jobs, including JCL, control files and output listings.